Joe Palcahttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org
enAfrica Inspires A Health Care Experiment In New York http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/african-village-inspires-health-care-experiment-new-york
There's a project in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York that has a through-the-looking glass quality. An organization called City Health Works is trying to bring an African model of health care delivery to the United States.Mon, 24 Nov 2014 10:16:00 +0000Joe Palca67208 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgAfrica Inspires A Health Care Experiment In New York A Non-GMO Way To Get More, Tastier Tomatoes http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/non-gmo-way-get-more-tastier-tomatoes
People who grow tomatoes want varieties that produce as much saleable crop as possible. People who eat tomatoes are less interested in yield, and more in taste. The tension between taste and yield can get pretty intense. What's a poor tomato plant to do?<p>Enter <a href="http://www.cshl.edu/Faculty/lippman-zachary-assistant-professor.html">Zach Lippman</a>, a plant geneticist from <a href="http://www.cshl.edu/">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</a> in New York.Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:33:00 +0000Joe Palca66258 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgA Non-GMO Way To Get More, Tastier Tomatoes Look Here: Phone App Checks Photos For Eye Diseasehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/look-here-phone-app-checks-photos-eye-disease
There's now free software for your iPhone that lets you check for early signs of certain eye diseases.<p>The idea for the app comes from a Baylor University chemist named <a href="http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/index.php?id=92176">Bryan Shaw</a>.Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:57:00 +0000Joe Palca66120 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgLook Here: Phone App Checks Photos For Eye DiseaseIn Hopes Of Fixing Faulty Genes, One Scientist Starts With The Basicshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/hopes-fixing-faulty-genes-one-scientist-starts-basics
Whether they admit it or not, many (if not most) scientists secretly hope to get a call in October informing them they've won a Nobel Prize.<p>But I've talked to a lot of Nobel laureates, and they are unanimous on one point: None of them pursued a research topic with the intention of winning the prize.<p>That's certainly true for <a href="http://rna.berkeley.edu/">Jennifer Doudna</a>.Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:20:00 +0000Joe Palca65376 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgIn Hopes Of Fixing Faulty Genes, One Scientist Starts With The BasicsSlippery When Coated: Helping Medical Devices Prevent Blood Clotshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/slippery-when-coated-helping-medical-devices-resist-blood-clots
A carnivorous plant has inspired an invention that may turn out to be a medical lifesaver.<p>Nepenthes, also known as tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, produce a <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/101/39/14138.long">superslippery surface</a> that causes unfortunate insects that climb into the plant to slide to their doom.<p>Scientists at Harvard's <a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/">Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering</a> wondered if they could find a way to mimic that surface to solve a problem in medicine.<p>The medical problem is blood clots.Sun, 12 Oct 2014 17:03:00 +0000Joe Palca65362 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgSlippery When Coated: Helping Medical Devices Prevent Blood ClotsMission To Study Mars' Climate Enters Red Planet's Orbithttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/mission-study-mars-climate-reaches-next-step
This Sunday night, we headed back to Mars: NASA's MAVEN spacecraft fired its six main engines, slowing down enough so it could be captured by the gravity of the red planet and go into orbit.<p>MAVEN, which stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, is a distinctly un-sexy name for a project as cool as a sojourn to Mars.Sun, 21 Sep 2014 21:02:00 +0000Joe Palca64535 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgMission To Study Mars' Climate Enters Red Planet's OrbitBuild A Toothbrush, Change The World. Or Nothttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/build-toothbrush-change-world-or-not
Some people dream of climbing Mount Everest or riding a bicycle across the country. <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mike-davidson-rdh-bsdh/68/a46/417">Mike Davidson's dream</a> has been to create the perfect toothbrush, and now he thinks he's done it.<p>The saga of this brush tells a lot about the passion and persistence to take an idea and turn it into a product.<p>Shots first <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/12/27/168080635/the-quest-for-the-perfect-toothbrush">introduced you</a> to Davidson in 2012.Wed, 27 Aug 2014 07:27:00 +0000Joe Palca63388 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgBuild A Toothbrush, Change The World. Or NotWhere We Learn That Artificial Eyes Really Aren't Round At Allhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/where-we-learn-artificial-eyes-really-arent-round-all
Almost every time reporters go out on assignment, they run across something unexpected that they just can't fit into the story they're working on.<p>When science correspondent Joe Palca and producer Rebecca Davis were in Boston reporting on a boy with a rare form of cancer, they found themselves in the office of <a href="http://www.jahrling.com/Jopi/AboutJopi.htm">Jahrling Ocular Prosthetics</a>, a business dedicated to making artificial eyes.<p>Joe and Rebecca spoke with Joyce and Eric Jahrling, two of the four Jahrlings who work at this family firm, and learned some surprising things about mMon, 11 Aug 2014 07:27:00 +0000Joe Palca62627 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWhere We Learn That Artificial Eyes Really Aren't Round At AllTransformer Paper Turns Itself Into A Robot. Cool!http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/transformer-paper-turns-itself-robot-cool
Every so often, a scientific paper just begs for a sexy headline.<p>Consider this study in the current issue of <em>Science</em>: "<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1252610">A Method for Building Self-folding Machines</a>." A bit bland, you'll no doubt agree. <em>A Real-Life, Origami-Inspired Transformer</em> is how the journal's public affairs department referred to it.Thu, 07 Aug 2014 18:03:00 +0000Joe Palca62474 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTransformer Paper Turns Itself Into A Robot. Cool!Close Encounters Of The Radio Kind? Mystery Bursts Baffle Astronomershttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/close-encounters-radio-kind-mystery-bursts-baffle-astronomers
Astronomers have a mystery on their hands. Two large radio telescopes, on opposite sides of the planet, have detected very brief, very powerful bursts of radio waves.<p>Right now, astronomers have no idea what's causing these bursts or where they're coming from. And nothing has been ruled out at the moment — not even the kind of outrageous claims you'd expect to see in tabloid headlines.<p><strong>Australian Recordings Inspire Curiosity And Doubt</strong><p>The first report of these "fast radio bursts" appeared in 2007.Sat, 26 Jul 2014 12:13:00 +0000Joe Palca61903 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgClose Encounters Of The Radio Kind? Mystery Bursts Baffle AstronomersRosetta Spacecraft Readies For Rendezvous With Comethttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/rosetta-spacecraft-readies-rendezvous-comet
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Rosetta+Spacecraft+Readies+For+Rendezvous+With+Comet&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxODc0NzU5MDEyMTgyMDUxMzlkN2IzMw004)"/></div><p>Transcript <p>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: <p>Next month, the European Space Agency's Rosetta space probe will catch up with a comet, which it has been chasing across the solar system for a decade. Once there, the Rosetta probe will take pictures, make measurements and drop a probe down to the comet's surface.Tue, 22 Jul 2014 08:45:00 +0000Joe Palca61673 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTo Make A Spacecraft That Folds And Unfolds, Try Origamihttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/make-spacecraft-folds-and-unfolds-try-origami
Scientists and engineers at NASA are using <a href="http://www.origami-resource-center.com/">origami techniques</a> to help solve a fundamental dilemma facing spacecraft designers: How do you take a big object, pack it into a small container for rocket launch, and then unpack it again once it arrives in space — making sure nothing breaks in the process.<p>Brian Trease, an engineer at NASA's <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>, says one way is to use something called the <a href="http://www.ijpam.eu/contents/2012-79-2/8/8.pdf">Miura fold</a>, named for its inventor,Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:27:00 +0000Joe Palca61491 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWhy Theories On Black Holes Are Full Of Holeshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/theories-black-holes-are-full-holes
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Why+Theories+On+Black+Holes+Are+Full+Of+Holes&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDA4NjQ1MDk3MDEzMjMxOTI5Mzc4NjVjNA004)"/></div><p>Transcript <p>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: <p>Scientists announced, earlier this week, they had discovered three supermassive black holes orbiting close together in a single galaxy. That indicates that black holes are more common than astronomers previously thought.Tue, 01 Jul 2014 10:31:00 +0000Joe Palca60644 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgIf They Want To Make Anything, Proteins Must Know How To Foldhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/if-they-want-make-anything-proteins-must-know-how-fold
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=If+They+Want+To+Make+Anything%2C+Proteins+Must+Know+How+To+Fold&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDA3OTgyNDI4MDEzMTM0MjQzMTZlNDI0Mg004)"/></div><p>Transcript <p>MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: <p>Events unfold. Plots unfold. And this summer, NPR science correspondent Joe Palca has been telling us how science unfolds.Fri, 27 Jun 2014 20:20:00 +0000Joe Palca60511 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgA CRISPR Way To Fix Faulty Geneshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/crispr-way-fix-faulty-genes
Scientists from many areas of biology are flocking to a technique that allows them to work inside cells, making changes in specific genes far faster — and for far less money — than ever before.<p>"It's really powerful, it's a really exciting development," says <a href="http://profiles.umassmed.edu/profiles/display/129741">Craig Mello</a> of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.Thu, 26 Jun 2014 20:44:00 +0000Joe Palca60470 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgA CRISPR Way To Fix Faulty GenesPhone App Might Predict Manic Episodes In Bipolar Disorderhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/phone-app-might-predict-manic-episodes-bipolar-disorder
There are smartphone apps for monitoring your diet, your drugs, even your heart.Sat, 31 May 2014 09:22:00 +0000Joe Palca59137 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgPhone App Might Predict Manic Episodes In Bipolar DisorderThe First American Teenager, Millennia-Old And Underwaterhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/first-american-teenager-millennia-old-and-underwater
Transcript <p>TESS VIGELAND, HOST: <p>From the studios of NPR West in Culver City, California it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'M Tess Vigeland. Let us contemplate the American teenage girl, perhaps the very first one. Apparently, there's been some scientific debate about who she is and whether she hails from the same gene sequence as what we think of as the first Americans, American Indians. And when I say gene sequence, we're not talking about Skinnies from Urban Outfitters.Sun, 18 May 2014 21:00:00 +0000Joe Palca58480 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgFaith Drives A Father To Create A Test For Childhood Cancerhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/faith-drives-father-create-test-childhood-cancer
When Bryan and Elizabeth Shaw learned that their son Noah had a potentially deadly eye cancer, like a lot of people, they turned to their religious faith to help sustain them. But faith is also impelling Bryan Shaw to create software to detect eye cancer in children as soon after birth as possible.<p>The Shaws are Christians, and their faith is extremely important to them. When they were at their bleakest, "Bryan would pull out the Psalms and say, 'This is how King David suffered in the Psalms, and we're going through this," says Elizabeth.Wed, 07 May 2014 07:33:00 +0000Joe Palca57925 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgFaith Drives A Father To Create A Test For Childhood CancerChemist Turns Software Developer After Son's Cancer Diagnosishttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/chemist-turns-software-developer-after-sons-cancer-diagnosis
A scientist's ambitious plan to create an early detection system for eye cancer using people's home cameras is coming along.<p>Last fall, we told you about Bryan Shaw's <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/05/243189819/how-pictures-of-infant-boys-eyes-helped-diagnose-cancer">scheme</a>. He believes parents' cameras can reveal whether their baby has <a href="http://www.aapos.org/terms/conditions/67">leukocoria</a>, a white glow coming from the pupil when you shine a light in their eyes.Tue, 06 May 2014 07:37:00 +0000Joe Palca57872 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgChemist Turns Software Developer After Son's Cancer DiagnosisThe Scientist Who Makes Stars On Earthhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/scientist-who-makes-stars-earth
Transcript <p>AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: <p>From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.<p>On the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, scientists are doing something astonishing. They're creating a white dwarf star - not a whole star but enough of one to study in minute detail.Thu, 06 Mar 2014 21:16:00 +0000Joe Palca54954 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTo Clean Drinking Water, All You Need Is A Stickhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/clean-drinking-water-all-you-need-stick
Removing all the dangerous bacteria from drinking water would have enormous health benefits for people around the world.<p>The technologies exist for doing that, but there's a problem: cost.<p>Now a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology thinks he's on to a much less expensive way to clean up water.<p>MIT's <a href="http://meche.mit.edu/people/?id=279">Rohit Karnik</a> is a mechanical engineer who works on water technologies. He says it's relatively easy to make membranes that can filter the bacteria out of water.Wed, 05 Mar 2014 21:35:00 +0000Joe Palca54900 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTo Clean Drinking Water, All You Need Is A StickInexpensive Aquarium Bubbler Saves Preemies' Liveshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/inexpensive-aquarium-bubbler-saves-preemies-lives
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0rGMRdZiOY</p>Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:33:00 +0000Joe Palca53464 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgInexpensive Aquarium Bubbler Saves Preemies' LivesScientists Come Close To Finding True Magnetic Monopolehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/scientists-come-close-finding-true-magnetic-monopole
Transcript <p>DAVID GREENE, HOST: <p>Scientists may have filled in a gap in one the fundamental theories of physics. We've always been told that magnets have two poles, north and south. But theory suggests there should be something called a magnetic monopole, a magnet that has either a north pole or a south pole but not both of them. So far no one has found this elusive magnetic monopole.<p>As part of his project, Joe's Big Idea, NPR's Joe Palca brings us the story of scientists at Amherst College in Massachusetts. They have created a synthetic magnetic monopole.Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:04:00 +0000Joe Palca53348 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgSaving Babies' Lives Starts With Aquarium Pumps And Ingenuityhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/saving-babies-lives-starts-aquarium-pumps-and-ingenuity
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0rGMRdZiOY</p>Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:19:00 +0000Joe Palca52181 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgSaving Babies' Lives Starts With Aquarium Pumps And Ingenuity'The Coolest Thing Ever': How A Robotic Arm Changed 4 Liveshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/coolest-thing-ever-how-robotic-arm-changed-4-lives
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1jbEvhFzQM</p>Thu, 28 Nov 2013 08:05:00 +0000Joe Palca50532 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.org'The Coolest Thing Ever': How A Robotic Arm Changed 4 LivesHow Pictures Of Infant Boy's Eyes Helped Diagnose Cancerhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/how-pictures-infant-boys-eyes-helped-diagnose-cancer
Bryan Shaw never expected to write a research paper about a rare eye cancer.<p>He's a <a href="http://www.baylor.edu/chemistry/index.php?id=75907">chemist</a> who works on how <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24066782">metals and proteins interact</a>. But life has a funny way of interrupting the best-laid plans, and now Shaw may be on to a powerful new way to detect <a href="http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/retinoblastoma/blastoma.asp">retinoblastoma</a> in newborns.Wed, 06 Nov 2013 15:48:00 +0000Joe Palca49490 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgHow Pictures Of Infant Boy's Eyes Helped Diagnose CancerJupiter Or Bust, But First A Quick Fly-By Of Homehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/jupiter-or-bust-first-quick-fly-home
After traveling for more than two years and some 1 billion miles, NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is back where it started. Almost. At 3:21 p.m. ET Wednesday, the Juno space probe will be 347 miles away from Earth, just above the southern tip of Africa.<p>(As an aside, at around 11:30 a.m. ET, it was more than 90,000 miles away.)<p>It's not that Juno got homesick — the return to Earth was a necessity. To send it on a direct path to Jupiter would have required a more powerful rocket than the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551.Wed, 09 Oct 2013 17:30:00 +0000Joe Palca48129 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgJupiter Or Bust, But First A Quick Fly-By Of HomeTreating Kids' Cancer With Science And A Pocket Full Of Hopehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/treating-kids-cancer-science-and-pocket-full-hope
Try to imagine someone who is supremely calm while at the same time bursting with energy, and you've got a pretty good idea of what <a href="https://www.fhcrc.org/en/diseases/featured-researchers/olson-jim.html">Jim Olson</a> is like.<p>He's a cancer researcher, physician, cyclist, kayaker and cook, not always in that order.Fri, 13 Sep 2013 07:03:00 +0000Joe Palca46834 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTreating Kids' Cancer With Science And A Pocket Full Of HopeWhy Painting Tumors Could Make Brain Surgeons Betterhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/why-painting-tumors-could-make-brain-surgeons-bette
Perhaps one of the most uncomfortable things a doctor has to tell patients is that their medical problems are iatrogenic. What that means is they were caused by a doctor in the course of the treatment.<p>Sometime these iatrogenic injuries are accidental. But sometimes, because of the limits of medical technology, they can be inevitable.Thu, 12 Sep 2013 07:45:00 +0000Joe Palca46767 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWhy Painting Tumors Could Make Brain Surgeons BetterCoronal Holes: The (Rarely Round) Gaps In The Sun's Atmospherehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/coronal-holes-rarely-round-gaps-suns-atmosphere
There's a hole in the sun's corona. But don't worry — that happens from time to time.<p>"A coronal hole is just a big, dark blotch that we see on the sun in our images," says <a href="http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/team/team_pesnell.php">Dean Pesnell</a>, project scientist for NASA's <a href="http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/team/team_pesnell.php">Solar Dynamics Observatory</a>. "We can only see them from space, because when we look at them [through] a regular telescope, they don't appear."<p>That's because you have to look at wavelengths of light that the human eye can't see.Thu, 05 Sep 2013 19:38:00 +0000Joe Palca46466 at http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgCoronal Holes: The (Rarely Round) Gaps In The Sun's Atmosphere